The Great Mushroom War
by evil746
Summary: The story of a boy surviving on his own in a post Mushroom War world. Again, sorry for the terrible summary. Warning: Contains Violence, Survival themes.
1. Chapter 1

Liam awakened. He rubbed his head from where he had bumped it on the shelf. He was in an underground bunker, alone. It was something his father had installed during the war. Liam opened the door and stepped outside into utter destruction. The buildings that once cut through the sky were now nothing more than flaming rumble. Any form of flora in the city was now burnt to a crisp. The highway leading into the city had been torn apart. A whole city, destroyed by the press of a button.

Liam's house stood directly in front of him, collapsed. Three black skeletons laid in what was his backyard; His mothers, fathers, and younger sisters. They had all died trying to get to the bomb shelter. Liam was the first into the shelter and while she was running for safety, his younger sister had sprained her ankle and tripped. His mother and father rushed to her in an attempt to get inside. They failed however, and as Liam saw the bomb being dropped, he closed the door. The blast was so strong, it caused him to hit his head against the shelf.

Liam kneeled over the bodies that were once his family and he began to cry. At first his eyes had started to water a little, but it shortly he began to bawl. He lent over the group of bones and cried into them. He cried for several minutes until he fell he could hold it back. He decided to go into town to see if anyone else might of survived. He began to follow the road until he reached the city central. While walking into the city, he came across a little girl that wouldn't of been older than his sister. She had black hair and was wearing red t –shirt under a blue dress similar to overalls.

She was calling out for her father. Liam was about to go help her when a man had come along. He had long white hair and a small white beard. He wore a grey suit with a black vest underneath. He had a crown attached to some string and looped through one of his belt holes. He had a dark green hiking backpack on with odd objects attached to it. He saw the little girl crying and threw his backpack off before running up to comfort her. He then walked over to a toy store and grabbed a stuffed toy before giving it to the girl and hugging her. Liam thought there was something strange about the man and decided it would be best for him to stay away from them.

He continued into the city until he became tired and sat on a park bench. He sat there for any hour or so before he became hungry. He saw a grocery store across the road from him and had began searching it for food. Most of the food there had already been taken as people had been stocking up for this and so Liam found it hard to find anything to eat. He came across some tinned baked beans and a bag of chips. They felt warm, as though they were radiating heat. He found a plastic spoon and sat down in the aisle leaning against the shelves before eating them. He sat there thinking until it had become dark. Liam took his jacket off and folded it up before lying on it, using it a pillow. He laid there for a few minutes before closing his eyes and drifting off into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Liam woke to sun light in his eyes. He shielded his eyes from the light with his hands before sitting up. He grabbed his jacket and put it back on and stood up. He found four more cans of baked beans and ate one of them put the others in a plastic shopping bag.

Liam went back outside and continued to walk until it had started to rain. At first, he continued to walk through it, but as it became heavier, he thought it would be best to find shelter. He came across a supermarket and took refuge in it.

While waiting for the storm to pass, Liam began scavenging supplies. He found a large backpack and placed his tinned food in it before putting it on his back. He found a walkman and some cassette tapes for him to listen to, a torch for when it gets dark, a couple boxes of matches, a sleeping bag and a Swiss army knife. He also found a skateboard and slid it in between his back and bag. While looking in an aisle he heard the sound of something being knocked over in the next aisle.

"Hello?" He called out, "Is someone there?" He began to walk towards the sound.

" Are you okay?" Liam asked he poked his head around the corner and saw a bunch of objects spilled across the floor.

He continued to walk around the corner until he saw this grey creature that had the build of a human, oozing green goo out of its eyes and mouth. The creature was staring right at him and Liam just froze. It was only until the creature began to run at him that he began to run.

He ran through the store closely followed by the creature. As he came across the sports equipment , he tripped on a tennis ball. Liam began to crawl away as the monster drew nearer. It had caught up to Liam and now stood over him. The creature had grabbed his right shoulder and had flipped him over. As it did, Liam grabbed a metal baseball bat that was close to his hand and use the momentum of being turned over to swing the bat, hitting the creature in the face.

The creature fell to the ground and Liam stood up over it. It began to move so, he began to hit it over and over until he thought it was dead. He looked over the creature in bewilderment. He poked it using the end of his bat and it oozed more green goo.

'Gross' He thought.

As he continued to look at the monster, he heard footsteps behind him and had turned around. Another two creatures stood in front of him. They looked similar to the other one, but one was black while the other was brown. The black one charged at him and Liam swung his bat into the creatures skull. The other shortly followed and Liam swung the bat into its torso knocking it to the ground before he its head. He shook some goo that was on the tip of his bat and slid it into a slot on his backpack.

'What are these things?' He asked himself as though he knew the answer. He sat next to bodies until the storm had passed and he continued to follow the road into the city.


	3. Chapter 3

A month had passed since The bomb had been dropped. Liam had been surviving on mainly tinned food with the occasion of fresh fruit. After an encounter with a large group of mutants , Liam had found a hunting rifle to protect himself better and had started moving out of the city.

He was walking through the forest that was just outside the city when he heard people talking. He ducked into the bushes and started sneaking up to them. It was the man and little girl he had seen a month ago. The girl's clothes were slightly dirty and the sleeves of her shirt were ripped. The man looked much the same but with longer hair and beard.

The two were looking at a videotape.

"Man, this is a _boring_ movie." The man said. The little girl laughed.

"I like the book much better!" He continued to say. He threw the tape behind him and they both laugh.

**"**You're so silly, Simon!" The girl had said

**"**yeah, I suppose so." Simon had said. Liam tried to moved closer. "Huh?"

"What is that?" the girl had asked. Liam tried to move closer again.

"I'm not sure," Simon said, "but it's coming our way. Come on." The two ran over to a car. Simon picked up the girl and put her in it. "Marcy, you stay in the car. I'll be right back."

"Simon!" Marcy said pulling on his beard. Simon winched in pain. "You're not going to put it on, are you?"

"I have to." Simon replied, "To protect us."

"But you're gonna act weird again!"

"Don't worry, I can control it better now." Liam started to become suspicious.

'Control what better now?' he thought.

"It's okay! B.R.B." Simon had said. He kissed Marcy on the forehead and pulled his head out of the window. Liam a little curious to see what the man was going to do, moved closer.

"Oh, boy. Here it comes." Simon said. Liam moved slower trying to stop the bushes from rustling.

"Oh, bread balls. Oh, bread balls! OH, BREAD BALLS!" The man put on the crown that was tied to his belt holes. His nose and hair and beard then began to grow and he started laughing maniacally.

"I call upon the power of ice and snow!" He shouted now flying in the air. Liam became worried.

" Ice winds, blow!" Icy wind shot out of his hands which caused a deer that would of been near Liam to fly out of the bushes and land perfectly on its feet. It looked around, confused at what just happened.

The man growled, " You will no longer terrify a 47-Year-Old man and a 7-Year-Old girl!" He then shot ice at the deer causing a ball of ice to form around it making it frozen.

Liam began to slowly back away into the woods. He walked deep within the woods to keep away from the crazed magic man. After many hours he set up camp. He made a set up some sticks in a teepee form and grabbed some dried grass and twigs for the fire. He pulled out a box of matches and opened it up.

'One left.' He thought.

Liam struck it along the box and cover his hand around it to shield it from the wind. He placed it on the grass and scooped it up. He then began to gently blow on it until it caught on fire. He placed it in the fire amongst some twigs and it soon set ablaze.

He pulled out his last tin of food and place it just in the fire. While it cooked, he set out his sleeping bag and grabbed a large log and lent against it. He pulled out his book and continued to read it from where he left off. To pass the time he has been reading a book he found on radiation to better understand the new world.

After several minutes he used his shirt to pick up the metal in he left in the fire and took it out to let it cool for a bit. As he was eating he thought he should head into town to resupply. Once he finished his dinner, it was dark and he had jumped into his sleeping bag and slowly gone to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Moring had come and Liam had packed up his camp site and set off into town. He came across a road and he pulled out his walkman, placed his headphones on his head and put a cassette in it. He pulled his skateboard out and set it on the ground before jumping on it and taking off. As he rode, he attempted a variety of tricks, landing a few occasionally and failing most of them.

He rode to town and to a camping store. He grabbed as many matches as he could and some batteries. From there he went to a grocer and was looking for food. He found a bag of pretzels and some apples and a couple tins of food. Liam sat on top of the building and watched over the town. He pulled out one of his apples and ate it. The city was slightly better than it was when the bomb hit. Grass had began to grow back and shrubs had started spouting up here and there.

In the distance Liam could see his old house and memories of his family filled his mind. He remembered how, when he was little, his dad would chase him around the backyard and when he would catch him, Liam's dad would tickle him. He remembered how his mum use to listen to him whenever he was having a tough day just so he had someone to talk about it to. He remember how his little sister would always annoy him in such a way, he would want to wrap his hands around her throat but he never did because he loved her dearly.

When he finished his apple he thought he should visit his house. When he arrived he tried open the door. It was blocked though, a beam sat in front of it. He went over to the window in the living room and broke it open with his baseball bat. He stepped inside and stood there. The house he had been living in all his life was now nothing but rubble.

He went into his room and sat on his bed. He sat there for a while, thinking. Thinking about how his whole world would never be the same again. He picked up a picture frame from his bedside table that held a picture of his family. He took it out, folded it up and put it in his bag. He was about to leave when saw the pantry in the kitchen. He looked through it and found tins of stew, spaghetti, tuna and soup. He also found a bag full of peaches and two large bags of chips.

He left his house and skated along the road he followed a month ago. On his way back out to the city, he heard something banging against a car. He pulled his baseball bat out and followed the noise. There he saw Simon and Marcy again on a freeway.

Marcy had her hands on her ears and Simon was kicking a ambulance shouting 'mother' repeatedly. Simon was then grabbed by a mutant that was hiding under the vehicle and Simon kicks it away. He then begins to push the ambulance off the freeway and it starts saying "Clambulance" over and over.

This caused the mutants in area to start coming after the two. They jumped of the freeway onto a tree cover in a pink substance and Liam had shortly followed them. Most of the mutants chased Simon and Marcy but some of the mutants in the crowd had noticed him. He had to fight through them, violently swinging his bat.

He hit a mutant with a direct hit to the head. A second shortly followed as he hit it in the gut with the tip of the bat and then swung down on its head. A third mutant had walked up to him and he swept it off its feet using the bat before smashing its head open. He continued to fight the mutants with great difficultly until he came across a fire escape that was alongside a building.

He climbed up it and on the roof he could see Simon and Marcy in an alley, trapped between a wall and a group of mutants. Simon put Marcy in a car that sat in the alley and the two were talking. As they did, Liam fumbled to get the hunting rifle off the side of his pack.

"Simon!" He heard Marcy call out.

He looked up and saw Simon closing the car door. Liam had finally got the gun off his back and reached into his pocket for ammunition. He looked up again and stopped. He saw Simon putting on his crown and he began to sing.

"Makin' your way in the world today takes everything you've got!" He shot snow out of his hand and blasted the mutants across the alleyway as he did, Simon began to fly.

"Taking a break from all your worries SURE WOULD HELP A LOT!" He then began to summon what seemed to be a snow storm.

"WOULDN'T IT BE NICE TO GET AWAY!" HE then used his snow storm to blast more Mutants down the alley.

"Where everybody," He began to descend, " knows your name. Where everybody..." Simon then smacked the crown off his head.

It was then that Liam began to walk away back into the shadows and leaving the man and little girl alone.


	5. Chapter 5

Liam rode through the silent city. The only noise that could be heard were the clicks of his wheels on the road. Night had fallen and Liam was trying to find a place to spend the night. The mutants would come out at night.

He found an old apartment building to set up camp. It was pitch black inside. He pulled out his torch and began to look around. He searched through the area a silently as possibly, so if an mutants were in the building, he'd have the upper hand. As he was searching through the apartments, he heard the sound of something large falling over. He turned off his little and slowly snuck up to the room the sound had emitted from. He gently opened the door and before him was a mutant trapped under a bookshelf. Liam stood there for a while and watched the mutant struggle to lift the bookshelf off. He pulled out his baseball bat and cracked it's head open before continuing to search the place.

He found a room in which to stay. He rolled out his sleeping bag and he broke apart some wooden chairs to use as fire wood. He ripped some pieces paper out of some books to use as kindling. He opened his bag of pretzels and ate them as he read his book. As he did, the smoke from the fire rose up and set off a smoke detector. The sprinkles then active and Liam and put his book into his bag in order to save it. He then took off his jacket and used it to try and blow the smoke away from the smoke detector in an attempt to shut it up.

As the smoke alarm beeped, it attracted the mutants that were walking around on the street outside. By the time he stooped the smoke alarm, the mutants were walking through the hallway towards his room. He packed up his sleeping bag, put his backpack on and pulled out his hunting rifle. He loaded with rounds before pointing it at the door waiting.

The door had been torn open and the mutants started to pile into the room. He began to open fire, shooting round after round into the head of a mutant. He pulled the bolt of the gun back and took and aim at the next mutant. Click. Liam looked at his gun before pulling the bolt again and squizzing the trigger. Click. He tried again. Click. And again. Click. The gun was empty. By now the mutant was standing right in front of him and tried to grab him. He hit it in the head with the butt of the gun causing it to hit the ground. He continued to hit it in the head until it's head indented.

Another three mutants had now made their way up to him. He put his gun back in the holster of his pack, pulled out his bat and clubbed the three mutants in the head. More and more mutants began to pour in through the door making Liam retreat to the bedroom. He ran in, locked the door behind him and sat up against it.

'so this is how it's end.' He thought. 'being torn apart by freaks of nature.'

The mutants had pushed up against the door causing Liam to fall forward. While lying on the ground, he could see a shoebox underneath the bed. He pull it out and opened it up. Inside was a black and white picture of a group of soldiers all posing for a photo. He picked it up and underneath was a M1917 revolver from the first world war in a holster. In the corner of the box was 36 or so bullets for it.

Liam took the gun out of its holster and filled it with bullets, he put the remainder of the bullets in his pocket and stood up. He took out his baseball bat with his other and pulled the hammer the hammer of the gun back.

The mutants had burst through the door and Liam shot one right in between his eyes. He knocked another back with his bat and shot another. The mutant that had been knocked to the ground was now crawling towards Liam and he cracked it's head open with his bat. He shot a mutant coming through the door in the leg causing it to fall onto the other before he shot it in the head.

Another two had come through the door and hit them directly in the head. Three mutants had walked in front of the doorway and Liam took aim at another before shooting. Click. One of the mutants had tried to grab him but he kept it back with his bat. He swung out the cylinder and empty the shells out of the slots. He knocked back another mutant that had come up to him before he started to walk backwards.

He fumbled through his pockets for another six rounds. He continued to walk back ,trying to stay away from the creatures, until he was backed into a corner. He placed the six bullets in the revolvers slots and flicked the cylinder back into place. Just has a mutant was to grab him, he pulled the hammer back and shot it in the chest. It stumbled back a few steps before he shot it again in its forehead.

The mutant that had knocked back had now crawled up to him and grabbed his leg. He put the barrel up to its skull and pulled the trigger. The last mutant had run up to him and he pulled back the hammer one last time before shooting it. As he was walking out of the room, Liam picked the revolvers holster up and carried on leaving.


	6. Chapter 6

It had been a year since Liam saw Simon and Marcy. He had grown out of his clothes and now wore jeans, skate shoes and a canvas jacket on top of a t-shirt. His hair had started to grow in length and he was growing a small amount of facial hair.

He was skating through the streets pulling off kickflips and pop-shove its and listening to his walkman when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He stopped and turned around to see Marcy jumping from tree to tree. Her hair was much longer than the last time he saw her. But she wore much the same attire. She still wore a dress that looked similar to overalls but the shirt she wore under it was grey.

She was wearing one sock on her right foot with the heel and the toe of shoe missing. Her dress had a couple of stains on it and the shirt she was wearing underneath sleeves ripped. She was holding some kind of pink rag doll. She jumped off the branch of a tree onto the road behind them and ran across it before sitting in front of a ruined house. Liam snuck up to her and hid in the forest nearby.

"You need another eyeball surgery, pal." Marcy had said to the rag doll, "Lucky for you, we found a donor." She put the doll down ripped a button from her overalls and held it up in the air before exclaiming "Eyeball!" She then began imitating a doctor saying, "Nurse, hand me the string." And then imitated a nurse saying 'Yes, doctor.' She took a piece of string from a spool with a needle attached to it before commenting 'It's our last piece.' She picked up the rag doll. "Hold still." She said to it before stitching the button to it. "I'm hurting you because I love you." She continued to talk to it.

Marcy was all alone, with nothing to talk to but a doll.

'I wonder what happened to Simon' Liam had thought 'He used to look after Marcy, watching over her like a hawk. Now he had mysteriously vanished.' Liam thought about going up to the girl but had decided not to, remembering what Simon did to that deer.

He moved deeper into the woods before walking away from Marcy and back into the city to search for more supplies. Around lunch time Liam had stopped inside the Museum of History for s place to stay while eating. He stepped inside and pulled out his torch and revolver and started searching around for mutants.

As he did, he came across a whole bunch of artefacts. One thing that interested him in particular, was an old book called The Enchiridion. Liam sat down next to the display case that held the book and he pulled a peach and a packet of peanuts from out of his bag. while eating, Liam had thought of the world as it once was.

He imagined the museum full of people walking around and looking at the ancient objects with awe as though they were still here. Liam's heart then sank.

'Why me?' He thought, 'Why was I the one left to survive in the world?' He could feel himself tearing up, 'Why was I the one to be left alone?'

"Why?" He shouted through the empty room slamming his fist into the ground. He lip started to wobble and then he began to cry into his hands. He bite his lip and looked up at the ceiling to stop himself. He sobbed several times before exhaling and he wiped the tears from his eyes.

'I'm just so alone' he thought tucking his knees up to his chest, staring through the room.


	7. Chapter 7

Liam was skating through the streets on his way back out of the city when he saw Marcy again. She was still sitting where she was before but now she was just cuddling her doll. He was staring at her as he rode when he suddenly hit the back of a car and flew across the boot landing on his side.

The car alarm had started to go off and while in great pain, he rolled off the car behind it. He peered over the roof and saw Marcy looking up at it before running off. Liam cradled his side before reaching under the car to grab his board. As he did, he noticed a number of feet coming towards him. Liam reached out for his board stretching his side causing him to winch in pain and pull his arm back.

He noticed more and more mutants were starting to come out of their dark hiding spots and come towards him. He put his arm under the car a second time and desperately reached for his board. He managed to get the tip of his fingers on the edge of the board and started scotching it closer to him. A mutant stumbled up to him and grabbed his arm.

Liam grabbed his board and pulled it out from underneath the car before striking it across the mutants head. He then stood up and slid his board between his back and bag. He pushed through the crowd of mutants and turned around to face it. He pulled out his bat and held it up to his head, ready to swing. A mutant had reached out to grabbed him and Liam swung at him. As he did, his side began to flare up in pain causing him to grab it with one of his hands and loosening his grip with the others. He hit the mutant which made the bat fly out of his hands and fall at the feet of the crowd before being consumed by it. He stared at where the bat had fallen before he pulled out his handgun and pulled the hammer back. Click. He pulled the hammer back again and pulled the trigger. Click.

Liam flicked the cylinder out to check if it was empty. The slot where full. He flicked the cylinder back into it place and tried again. Click. The gun had jammed. By now, the mutants had advanced towards him and were reaching out for him. He hit one of the mutants with the grip and had started to run away. He tried to run, but the car alarm was calling more and more of them out.

Liam saw an alley and dashed to it closely followed by more mutants. He came to a large fence. He turned around and saw the mutants closing in. He began to climb the fence with great difficulty. As he got to the top and was about to jump off, a mutant had grabbed his leg and began to pull on it.

This caused Liam to fall off and land flat on his face and graze the top of his head. He picked himself up and continued to run. More mutants were queuing up in the allies that either side of him. The mutants behind him were pushing up against the fence in an attempt to knock it down.

A ladder was bolted to the side of the wall next to him and he began to frantically climb it. He had reached the top and pulled out his hunting rifle. He fumbled through his pockets looking for any ammunition for it and as he did, the mutants started climbing up.

He kept rifling through his pockets in a crazed attempt to find them only to discover he had none. As the mutants drew nearer, Liam jumped to the building an alleyway across to him just falling short. His stomach hit the edge and he started to fall before stopping himself with his arms, throwing his hunting rifle forward. His forearms held his weight while the rest of his body dangled over the edge. He crawled his way back up to the roof and he picked up his gun before he continued to run.

He saw a roof top entrance thinking of it as a way out back down to street level. He swung opened the door to see a large number of mutants in the stair well. Liam raced back up to the roof shutting the door behind him. It wasn't long until the mutants began banging on the door breaking it. Liam stood at the edge of the building cornered between a potently deathly drop and creatures that want to rip him to shreds.

As the group of mutants hobbled towards him, Liam looked between the drop and the swarm before making his decision. He jumped down from the building towards the pavement. He landed on his feet before the momentum of his fall sent him forward. He placed out his hands bracing himself but one of his legs had hit the curb. He picked himself up and began to run before winching in pain. He looked back at the mutants in the roof before he began to slowly limp away grabbing his leg.


	8. Chapter 8

Liam had made his way out of the city and set up a camp. That night he had a dream he wasin the city before it ws destroyed. People were rushing around to get to work, cars queued up along the road, and people were riding bikes through the middle of the crowds causing people o jump out of thier way. Liam stood there smiling while he was watching people carry on with their lives when he saw someone point up into the sky. He looked up to where he was pointing and saw something falling down towads them. He soon knew what it was.

Liam started to run and has he did he heard an explosion. He turned around to see a huge green mushroom cloud where he was standing. People started running but were soon consumed by the heat wave emitted. He continued to run until he found a hole to jump into. He then saw his family standing a few metres in front of him holding out their hands with pleading look on their face. He reached out his hand to grab theirs when the heat wave disintegrated them. He ducked down into the hole and looked out once the heat wave passed over. There he saw Marcie hugging her doll and crying as mutant surrounded her.

Liam jumped out of the hole and tried to push through the crowd to get to her. He was knocked back by one of them and it looked at him before turning back to Marcie and closing in on her. He picked himself up and tried to pushed through the crowd again. The crowd closed in on Marcie and she disappeared in it before it turned to him. He started to run but had tripped and the swarm of mutants had soon surrounded him. They then stood over him and started to rip him apart. He started screaming and soon woke from his dream, gripping his chest and breathing heavily.

When morning had past he packed up his camp and made his way to a lake nearby. He stripped down to his underwear and jumped in. He rubbed some water in his wound on his forehead and cupping some water in his hands, he washed his torso before dipping his head under the water. He ran his fingers through his hair to get all the grease and dirt out. He then grabbed a toothbrush and toothpaste and processed to brush his teeth, spitting the foam in the water.

Liam stepped out of the water and put on his clothes. He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a razor and a battery powered hair trimmer. He then started shaving his stubble using the reflection of the water. He grabbed his hair trimmer and ran it through his hair to cut it down to length. The bits of hair fell from his head, landed on the water, and floated along the surface. He rubbed his now clean face while looking at his reflection.

He grabbed his backpack and began slightly limping into the city. Without a bat, a broken pistol and a empty rifle, Liam would have to keep off the main streets away from the mutants. He was walking through a street and had come across a gun store. He scavenged through the store for ammunition and a bore brush. He found a handful of rounds for both his hunting rifle and his pistol. Liam the sat on the counter and pulled apart his gun before using the bore brush to clean it. He then put the revolver back together and tested the gun while it was empty.

Liam made his way through the city to a sports shop and looked around for a new bat to replace his old one. While rummaging, Liam heard a noise and grabbed the first thing he could, a hockey stick. Holding the stick up high to his head and slowly walked towards the sound. He turned a corner and saw three mutants wandering through the aisle.

He cracked the head of one of the mutants closest to him with a quick sweep. The other two turned to face him and he bashed in the head of another. The third reached out to grab him and Liam dodged it, pivoting on his bad leg before it collapsed. The mutant stood over him and started scratching at him and trying to bite him.

Liam used the hockey stick to keep it a bay holding it up to its neck. He used the handle of the stick to it the mutant in the head knocking it off him. He held the weapon above his head before slamming it down onto the mutants head crushing it's skull. He inspected the weapon before putting it in the slot of his pervious and then set out looking for lunch.

Liam walked for hours on end making it from one side of the city to the other before finding a grocery store. He looked through the aisle looking for any tinned food only to find some tinned spaghetti. Liam sat their eating his food when he stopped suddenly; he heard a voice. He looked under the selves that once held food to see two little feet. It was Marcie.

"Hmm," She said, "What do you think I should have Hambo?" She asked herself standing there.

Liam snuck around to the aisle to watch her. She was talking to the little pink rag doll.

"You're right, I should have the beans." She said before climbing the selves.

Liam started to slowly back away before tripping over a empty jar. Marcie looked over towards the sound.

"Hello?" She asked. Liam picked himself up and started limping away.

"Is someone there?" Marcie started to follow him. "Simon is that you?" She continued to asked relentlessly following him. Liam duck down behind a butcher counter and hid there while Marcie was looking for him.

"Simon where have you been? I've been scared and lonely." Marcie called out.

'She's all alone' Liam thought, 'Simon must of abandoned her.'

Liam stood up from behind the counter to see that Marcie had gone. He could see that the door was swinging closed.

'Must of gone looking for Simon' He thought 'Poor girl.'

He stood there for a while looking at the door before heading back out of the city.


	9. Chapter 9

It had been eight years since Liam had seen Marcie but he remembered that look on her face when she was looking for Simon all those years ago. He was now 23 and as the years passed, He had changed his attire and he now wore a buttoned up t-shirt over a long sleeved shirt and khaki cargo pants which had been slightly torn and tattered over time. When food started to become scarce in the city, he began to hunt animals out of the city. He had read a survival book on how to build traps and track animals to help him and had become pretty good at it.

Liam was out hunting a deer and collecting some rabbits from traps he laid the pervious day when he saw a diner with the windows smashed in and decided to scavenge in it for food. He hid in a bush and silently snuck up careful not to attract any mutants in the area. As he did he saw a teenaged girl sitting on a log out in the woods, crying. He moved closer trying to get a better look at her and had snapped a stick under his foot. He froze in his spot and starred at the girl through the bushes waiting for her response.

The girl continued to cry not noticing the noise. Liam continued to move closer a little too hastily and caused the bushes to rustle. The girl looked over her shoulder and then stood up.

"Hello?" She said, "Is someone there? Come out and I won't hurt you."

Liam stood there for a moment thinking.

'Could she be serious?' he thought, 'She doesn't look like she could hurt a fly, but you don't say that unless you actually mean it.'

Liam stood up out of the bushes with his hands up by his head to show that he was friendly. The girl stood there in confusion while Liam stepped out of the bush. The girl stared at him up and down and then spoke up.

"Who are you?" She asked

"Liam. You?"

"Marceline."

Liam looked at her at her in astonishment, "Marceline, like Marcie?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I, uh, knew someone who was called Marcie."

Marceline slumped down on the log and Liam sat next to her. The two sat there for in silence trying to avoid the obvious subject. Marceline look at him trying to make conversation and noticed the skateboard stick out from between his back and his bag.

"You ride?" She asked.

"Just to get around really, but I learnt a couple of tricks to pass the time."

They sat there in silence again until Marceline spoke up again.

"So how did you survive? Why didn't anyone else?" She asked looking at him.

"Well, when we had been invaded by the Chinese-"

"Wait what?" Marceline said shocked.

"Don't you remember?"

She shrugged "I must of been out of the country."

"The Chinese invaded here through the ports and then spread out to central America and eventually to the east and set up little base in cities every now and then. So the government released an announcement over TVs and radios that if the Chinese weren't to leave they would retaliate with nuclear weapons." Liam explained.

" No one believed them though and thought that they were bluffing, not even when they started sending out flyers warning the people of the cities to evacuate but they stocked up on food because of that feeling in your gut that you get when something's wrong. No one talked about it but you could see it."

"The only person to believe them was my dad, he was one of the few, if not the only to buy a bunker. We all thought that he had the right idea. For the first two weeks, we believed it but after the third week, we started to have our doubts. My mum even threatened to leave my dad. But while we were all sitting at home one day, we heard planes flying over head. Not one or two planes, but a fleet of them. My family all went outside to see and then we saw one of the planes drop something. It took only a second for us to realise what it was and we bolted for the bunker but there was..." Liam looked down at the ground, "There was an accident and i was the only one in my family left."

"That's horrible." Marceline said.

"Yeah."

Marceline sat on the log staring in front of her trying to adsorb what was just said while Liam reminisced in memories of his family. They didn't speak to each other for the next five minutes. It was only when Liam snapped out of his thoughts that he broke the silence.

"So, where's your family?"

"I think my dad's still inside that diner."

"Wait, so you're not the only one alive?"

"No, but I don't really feel like talking about him." Marceline mumbled.

"Why?"

"I said I don't want to talk about him."

"Is that why you were crying?"

Marceline stood up and her eyes literally turned red "I said I don't talk about him!" She shouted.

Liam stood up, "Okay I was just wondering."

"Just leave me alone!" Marceline shouted tearing up and burring her face in her hands.

Liam back away slowly into the woods and then walked off looking for a place nearby to camp so he could go back to Marceline in the morning.


	10. Chapter 10

As Liam walked through the forest pushing braches out of his path, he thought of Marceline and how her eyes filled with red when he asked about her dad.

'Did her eyes really turn red?' He thought, 'Nah. Probably just sleep deprivation.'

Ever since that night Liam had that nightmare, he had more of them and they recently became more and more frequent and it made it harder for him to sleep. After wondering for a few minutes, Liam found an opening in the forest big enough for him to set up camp and had done so. He placed his bag up against a rock and unrolled his sleeping bag. He collect an abundant of dead sticks and used them to start a fire before piercing the deer meat with a large stick and placed it on two forked stick dug on opposites sides of the fire.

Liam sat up against the rock watching his meat cook and occasionally turning it to cook it evenly. When his deer had roasted, he took it off it stand, slid the meat off its skewer and slowly ate it in the palm of his hands, then sat there thinking when he finished. As the hours passed, Liam had to fight his urge to sleep but eventually gave in.

Liam woke from his nightmare and jumped. He rubbed his face and stared at the sea of trees in front of him for a couple of hours before drifting off to sleep again. When Liam awoke for the second time, it was morning. He packed his camp and hastily made his way back to the diner. He ran through the bush and started calling out when he saw the diner.

"Marceline, It's me!" He shouted running up to the entrance and looking in. It was empty.

"Liam!" He shouted running back out to where he had seen Marceline the night before.

"I just thought I might be able to join yo-" He turned the corner to see that the clearing was empty.

Liam hit a tree next to him with the bottom of his fist. He then hit it again and again and again faster and more violently each time and started to cry as he did. Liam fell to his knees and smash both his fists into the ground.

"Why?" He shouted into the sky, "Why when I finally find someone so that I'm not alone do you tear them away from me?! What did I do to deserve this?!"

Liam sat there kneeling for a minute or so before propping himself up on one of his knees and walking off into the wood to continue to hunt for food.


	11. Chapter 11

Liam looked down the sight of his barrel, taking in a deep breath and partially exhaling, holding the rest, then shooting the deer in his crosshairs and continuing to exhale the remaining air. He slid down on the destroyed building he sat on hunting his prey and went to collect his food. Over the 12 years, the animals had migrated into the city causing Liam to have to start hunting in the city.

The animals tended to avoid the mutants but there had been an occasion or two where a group of mutants got a deer or a rabbit or some other woodland creature. Liam had come across an animal carcase or two that the mutants managed to grab and it was very gruesome. The belly was usually ripped open and the guts left lying on the ground, the ribs would be sticking out with patches of skin and meat attached to them, and the creature would be covered in flies.

Liam walked up to his kill and pulled out his knife. He pierced the belly and sliced down it before gently tearing it open with his hands. He then sliced a large chuck of meat off the deer's ribs and placed it in a satchel sitting at his side. He continued to cut pieces off the deer until there was barely any left. Once he did, Liam walked off to check his traps for any other animals.

Liam had placed traps all over the city years ago to help him catch any small animals while he's put looking for supplies. There had been a time where he had caught a mutant in one of the traps, which when he went to inspect it was nearly killed by it. From then on he took caution from any mutants that he'd caught in traps but that hardly ever happened. While on his way to one of the traps he placed hidden in the city's centre, he heard a noise from a store.

He lifted his hockey stick out of its holster and began to investigate the source of the noise. He walked in through the door and through the aisle searching for any mutants. He passed through all of them until he came across the last row. He held the stick above his head and ran around the corner to see a 23 year old woman standing there holding a bottle of sunscreen. She had long black hair and wore a brown singlet with dark brown pants with tears in some places, some ankle high black boots and a dark brown satchel. She looked at him with worry before a smile drew across her face.

"Liam." She exclaimed.

"Marceline?" He said dropping the hockey stick.

He looked at her stunned; speechless. He gulped and then spoke up, "What... what are you doing here?" He asked putting the hockey stick up on his shoulder.

Marceline held up the bottle of sunscreen, "Just getting some, umm, sunscreen." She blushed.

Liam and Marceline stood there looking at each other, not saying a word.

"Are you, um, hungry?" Liam finally asked holding up his bag of meat.

"Yeah, staving."

"Well, would you like to come to my camp and have some?"

"I'd love to." Marceline said a little too quickly, "I mean, sure, okay."

Marceline put the bottle of sunscreen in her satchel before following Liam out the door.

"So, are you all by yourself?" Liam asked as they walked.

"Yep."

"What happened to your dad?"

"Well, after what happened between the two of us, he... he left me here, so I just lived on my own."

Liam was about to ask her what happened when he remember back to that night when he first met her and decided it would be best not to. The two continued to walk in silence until they reached a small area in the forest outside the city. Marceline collected the fire wood while Liam found a log for the two to sit on and set out his sleeping bag.

When Marceline returned, she set up a fire as Liam collect some sticks to roast his meat on. He lit some kindling and placed it in the bunch of sticks before sticking the hunk of deer meat onto a stick and then over the fire. He then sat on the log next to Marceline as she sat in silence lost in the flames of the fire. Liam looked at her and traced her gaze to the flames before looking back at her then joining in on looking at the fire.

Liam then began turning the meat until it started to cook all over.

"How do you like your meat?" Liam asked as he turned the flesh over.

"Medium rare I guess."

Liam cooked the meat to his guest liking and then ripped it off the stick and tore it in half and gave one piece to Marceline. He sat on the log next to her and began to eat from his hands. While chewing up the food in his mouth, he looked over at Marceline who pierced the red of the meat with one of her teeth before he looked back to the meal in his hands and took another bite. The two ate their food in silence, taking occasional glances at each other and looking away when the other caught them. When they had finished Marceline stood up from the log and turned to him.

"Well, I guess I'll get going now." She said turning towards the sea of trees.

"Wait." Liam said reaching out and grabbing her hand. It felt weird holding someone's hand after being without human contact for 21 years.

"It's dangerous to go out at night. It's when the mutants come out."

"Oh, okay. Well, could would I be able to stay with you for the night?"

"Sure." Liam replied releasing her hand, letting her sit back down on the log.

The two continued to sit in silence for a couple of hours until they started to become tired.

"Well," Liam yawned, stretching his arms, "I'm beat so I'm gonna go to bed."

Liam kicked off his shoes and was about to step into his sleeping bag, when he noticed Marceline sat there looking at him hugging herself to keep warm.

"Would you like to sleep in my sleeping bag?"

"Oh no," She said, "I couldn't do that."

"It would be my pleasure." He said holding the entrance slightly off the ground for her. She took off her boots and stepped in, taking the piece of cloth from Liam's hand. He walked over to the log and sat against it.

"Goodnight." She said closing her eyes and rolling over.

"Night." Liam mumbled lying next to the log facing the fire. He starred at it for a few minutes until he finally closed his eyes.


End file.
